ABSTRACT
In the “standard” case, the contract mother is artificially inseminated with the sperm of the intended receiving father, conceives, gestates, gives birth to an infant, delivers the infant into the custody of the receiving couple, and renounces all rights to a parental relationship with the child. When women’s subordination and class inequalities are combined, it is not surprising that some working class women welcome the chance to be contract mothers. Pronatalism also seems to play a role in the motivation of contract mothers themselves. While most say they would not do it if they were not paid, many are moved by the real pain and the perceived emptiness of the lives of the infertile and feel good about being able to help fill that “void.” Commodification of the child in contract motherhood exacerbates commodification of the contract mother. Contract motherhood, if the contract mother is excluded, allows infertile couples to come as close as possible to the “norm.”.
